First boot checklist

Step-by-step guide for setting up the G1 for the first time. A professional installer typically completes this in ~3 hours; self-install takes about half a day.

Phase 1 — Physical setup

1.1 Placement

Place the machine on a flat, stable surface
The G1 rests on 5 mm plastic feet fitted directly into the T-slots of the frame — no base pallet needed
Allow at least 60 cm clearance on all sides for the tube and vacuum unit
Place the material source close to the machine and route the feed line so it always rises — anywhere pellets can fall by gravity, they pile up and plug the tube

1.2 Electrical connections

The power box (under the panel box, front left) has three power sockets, labelled from the top:

Forced (always-on): general purpose / free for low-consumption accessories only (laptop charger, camera) — never high-power loads
Feeding (feeding-controlled): for the vacuum pump — the printer turns it on/off automatically
Bed (firmware-controlled): reserved for the bed heater — connect ONLY the bed heater cable here

Do NOT plug the bed heater into the Forced socket (always-on). Plugging it there causes the bed to heat uncontrolled and trips the safety at 110°C.

See Bed heater on wrong outlet and Power outlets (power box) for detail.

1.3 Vacuum voltage check

The G1 runs on 220–240V only, and so does the vacuum: use the supplied 220V vacuum, plugged into the Feeding socket of the power box.

1.4 Emergency stop

Check that the red mushroom button on the front is released — rotate it or pull it up. If it’s pressed, the Octopus has no power and Klipper stays in shutdown. See Machine won’t start - emergency button.

Phase 1B — First power-on checks (G1 First Kick-Off)

These checks are from the official assembly manual “G1 First Kick Off” section:

The machine ships with 2 power cables and a 5 kg bag of rPLA to get started. The Tools & Screws kit (assembly video, 2:02) also includes, besides the assembly fasteners: 3 nozzles + 2 teflon tapes, the nozzle wrench and Allen keys, 3 spare thermistors and a spare Z-probe switch (P01), a spare feeding filter + gasket (05.5), a jug for unloading material, 10 plastic ties and a bag of spare parts. Worth knowing before ordering anything: several spare parts are already in the crate. Connect the power cables to the main plugs and turn them on — the 2 red LEDs on the plugs will turn on and the printer will power up
Check that the Panel and Screen turn on correctly
Check that the fans under the Panel, on the Power Box, and at the entrance of the extruder freely rotate

Phase 2 — Network and software

2.0 Homing and motor checks (do before WiFi setup)

From the display, use the “Move” menu → Home All to perform the first homing
Watch the four Z motors. They must all turn the same way
Watch the two Y motors. Same — both the same way
Watch the X motor turn in the homing direction
Verify that the Z probe sensor correctly deploys and that its microswitch is correctly positioned to touch the bed

2.1 Connect to WiFi

On the display, open the WiFi menu to find your network settings
Connect to your local WiFi network from the WiFi menu
In your browser, open http://g1os.local — the Mainsail control panel appears
If g1os.local does not open, use the IP address instead: it is in the System menu on the display, or in your router’s list of connected devices. The printer answers on both; when the name fails, it was not resolved on your network — nothing is wrong with the printer

2.2 Install Ginger Slicer

Download from gingeradditive.com/pages/ginger-slicer
Install and launch
Select your nozzle size and a starting material profile
Connect to the printer (same local network). g1os.local is preselected — leave it; switch to the IP address only if the connection fails. See Connecting Ginger Slicer to the G1

Phase 2B — First heating and extrusion

2B.1 Heating up

Preheat the extruder and the heated bed to the proper “Temperature” for your material
Note: the extruder has been tested at the factory with PLA, so the barrel still has material inside. Temperature may take several minutes to reach the set value.
Allow the extruder to reach temperature completely before attempting any extrusion

2B.2 First extrusion

When the extruder is at temperature, perform a first extrusion via the “Extrude” menu
Check that E0 Main Extruder motor and E1 Hopper motor spin in the correct direction (arrows on the extruder indicate correct direction)
To activate the automatic feeding system, use the FEEDER toggle in the “Extrude” menu
Be aware that activation of the FEEDER is enabled after the end of the extrusion command — there is a short delay before pellets begin moving

Phase 3 — First calibrations (do these before first print)

3.1 Check for updates

Two separate things need checking, and they are not the same: the software components in Machine → Update Manager, and this machine’s own configuration behind UPDATE G1.

Both are covered in Updating the printer — update every component, and flash the Octopus only if the dashboard then reports it out of date.

3.2 Bed leveling

Heat the extruder to the temperature your material profile uses — see PLA

Always heat before running bed leveling — cold material on the nozzle tip can trigger the probe early and give a wrong mesh
From the Macros panel, run BED_LEVEL. That macro is the one that saves the mesh where the print sequence looks for it — see Z offset and first layer
Wait for the mesh to finish. It takes around 15 minutes — it is not stuck, let it run
Save the result from the display

3.3 Z offset

After bed levelling, start a test print
Let the first layer finish, then stop and measure its height with a caliper
Compare it with the layer height set in the slicer. They must match
If the printed layer is thinner, the nozzle is too low — raise the Z offset. If it is thicker, lower it. Adjust, reprint, measure again
Save once they agree — without saving, the value is lost on restart

See Z offset and first layer for the full procedure.

3.4 Rotation Volume calibration

Load your material and heat to temperature
Print a single skirt/purge line
Measure the line width with a caliper
Adjust Rotation Volume in the material profile until width matches what the slicer targets

See Rotation Volume calibration for the full procedure.

Phase 4 — First print

Pre-print checklist

Emergency stop button released (not pressed)
Bed heater cable in the bed socket (power box)
Vacuum pump in the feeding socket (power box)
Pellets loaded and hopper has material
Corrugated tube clamped tight at both ends
Extruder heated to target temperature
Bed leveling mesh saved
Z offset saved
Rotation Volume calibrated for this material

Starting the print

Send the G-code from Ginger Slicer (preferred) — this allows live monitoring and error display
Alternatively, upload the file to Mainsail → print from the Files tab
Watch the first 2–3 layers closely: first layer quality determines the whole print

Common first-boot issues

Symptom	Cause	Fix
Machine won’t turn on	Emergency stop pressed	Rotate or pull up the red button
Bed heats to 110°C then errors	Bed cable in wrong outlet	Move cable to the bed socket
Vacuum not running	Not plugged into feeding socket	Move vacuum to the feeding socket
No WiFi hotspot	Machine not fully booted	Wait 60 s, try again
`g1os.local` does not open	Name not resolved on your network	Use the IP from the System menu on the display
First layer too high / not sticking	Z offset not set	Run Z offset calibration and save
First layer blobs / over-extruded	First layer printed too low, or Rotation Volume too low	Measure the first layer: if it does not match the layer height, fix the Z offset. Only once the layer height is right, increase Rotation Volume
Print starts rough then improves	Previous material purging	Normal — run longer purge line